California’s Red Blends

What is going on with this once venerable category?

Red blends. We know what that means, right? It’s a code word for sweet red wine. While it may not infact be official, that is painfully close to the truth. Increasing these proprietary red blends from california, and now the world, come laden with enough sugar for dessert. that is an exaggeration, but the truth is that these wines should come with a warning sticker.

I know sweet red wines are popular, and I applaud their proliferation. Anything that gets more people interested in wine is a good thing, but who is getting into wine with $20 sweet red wines. Now I’ not saying there is no place for these wines, but we should have more to go on than simple the red Blend moniker to warn us of what may be in store.

A little RS is OK, I can handle that and in fact am not surprised by it in the more classic of these wines. California, of course, has a history with red blends, ie field blends and some wineries have tried to keep the spirit of these wines alive over the years. Witness Marrieta’s Old Vine Red, now on lot #60 though I’m tasting #59 and Trentadue’s Old Patch red. These are two stalwarts. Classic wines that continue to deliver real bang for the buck in a style that roughly emulate the classic field blends of California, which were based on Zin and Petite Sirah, and probably rarely were dry. I get these wines, and I like them. Heck i’m recommending them now, but the slew of upstarts. Well many have me scratching my heads.

it’s not actually the wines that have me wondering, it’s their prices. you see for my palate, once you reach a certain threshold of sugar on these supposedly dry wines all I get is sweet fruit and tannin on the palate. You can get that for under $7 if that is what you want, and I’m not passing judgement here. Why you would pay $20 for a similar wine is beyond me and the truth is I won’t be recommending those more expensive wines today because they just don’t offer good value.

This is admittedly an odd group of wines to be tasting at once, but I had a feeling that they would show in a relatively narrow style niche, but I’m looking towards the coming weekend and the parties that will require an inexpensive wine to accompany a full grill. with that in mind, let’s take a look at these wines. wines which do perform well with a burger and can keep a full backyard of wine drinkers happy for not a lot of money.

FYI: Here is another review from 'cellartracker' of the beast: "Mostly cab/syrah with maybe some other stuff thrown in, this is rich and deep on the nose, you can smell the savory, beefy quality, but also the freshness. This is savory and even has a kind of delicacy on the palate, granted by its acidity, keeping it all clean and moving across the palate. Really well-made"

Obviously, this is a field full of players. I would like to give a shout out to one that is not on this year's list, but has appeared in the past: Kenwood Vintage Red which is, typically, a mostly Zinfandel blend. Very consistent year in and year out and usually available for $8 or $9.

I think you had better give up wine writing. If something is noticeable, then "noticeably" is hardly the right adjective. And the first 2 wines on this list are from Washington. And red blend is a "code word" for sweet reds? Wow. Not in my neck of the woods, which happens to be CA.

Actually my wife and I, in addition to enjoying nicely made varietals, also enjoy the fun of that search for that elusive red blend that really delivers a good value and flavor well beyond its price point. Yes you kiss some frogs, pour some out, cook with some, but we are increasingly finding good value red blends compared to even a decade ago.

I have not found that a blend was somehow sweeter overall simply because it was blende,, and in fact I'd be surprised that you'd find a much higher residual sugar that in more traditional single varietals, at least for the blends I have been tasting here in CA. I do agree there may be some that might be in that category, but few are what I consider a sweet red. So I guess I disagree that blend = sweet red.

I would more or less agree with the recommended listing, and have sampled maybe 40 %.Definitely agree with the Trentedue recommendation.

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